History
Petford takes its name from the railway station which was named after John Joseph Petford, an official of Queensland Railways Department for many years. The railway station was on the Chillagoe Railway & Mining Co. line from Mareeba to Mount Garnet, which opened its first section from Mareeba to Lappa, just south-west of Petford, in 1900. The station no longer operates, but the line still exists, with the Savannahlander tourist service passing through Petford on its way between Cairns and Forsayth.
Petford today
Petford is a small rural community in the Mareeba shire. It is surrounded by cattle country. Today there are only a few houses, a railway siding and us, the old school converted into comfortable accommodations for travellers. For outsiders, this is a very typical Australian outback landscape – open eucalypt woodlands and the animal and birds that inhabit there.
Petford is at the centre of a rich mining history. Wolfram, molybdenite and bismuth mines were nearby at what was Bamford. Tin mining and a smelter were at Irvinebank; coal mining at Mount Mulligan; gold mining at Kingsborough and Thornborough; copper, lead and silver mining and smelter at Chillagoe; Wolfram mining at Wolfram. And more. Remnants of these times litter the landscape and are beautifully restored in places for travellers to explore and remenience.
All of this is in all directions and in close proximity to Petford.
Services
There are no shops or fuel stations in Petford.
The closest places for fuel and food supplies are Dimbula and Chillago. Mareeba is the main centre in this shire and has a supermarket as well as fuel and mechanical services for vehicles.